California Attorney General Rob Bonta has welcomed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that temporarily blocks the deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles. The court issued a partial administrative stay, maintaining part of an earlier order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that bars such deployment. However, the Ninth Circuit also paused another part of that order which would have returned federalized California National Guard troops to state control under the Governor.
Attorney General Bonta stated, “The Ninth Circuit’s decision means that, come Monday, there will be no National Guard troops deployed in California. Let me repeat: For the first time in six months, there will be no military deployed on the streets of Los Angeles. While this decision is not final, it is a gratifying and hard-fought step in the right direction. California did not ask to be a testing ground for the President’s militarized vision of America. There is no crisis to justify the National Guard’s continued presence, and we look forward to continuing to prove that in court.”
The legal dispute stems from federal efforts to deploy National Guard troops in response to unrest and security concerns in Los Angeles over recent months. The latest ruling allows some restrictions on troop deployments to remain while litigation continues.
